Chinese Rocket Re-enters Earth's Atmosphere Over Texas

The second stage of a Long March 2D rocket from China re-entered Earth's atmosphere as it passed over Texas last week.

According to the report, for now, no injury or property damage is reported against the crash but as such rocket falls are not without risk chances of damage cannot be denied.

The 2D rocket was launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwest of China last year and was successful in placing three Yaogan 35 (two groups) satellites into orbits with an average altitude of roughly 310 miles (500 kilometers), inclining at 35 degrees.

The first stage of the 135-foot-long (41 meters) rocket fell to Earth within a calculated drop zone, while the second stage entered orbit and deployed the satellites.

Meanwhile, as observed that the upper stages of rockets often remain in orbit until being dragged back to Earth increasing their interactions with the planet's atmosphere. 

In this case, the second stage unfolded a 269-square-foot (25 square meters), deorbiting sail increasing the drag and bringing the large piece of space debris back to Earth much sooner than it otherwise would have. 

Subsequently the better news, in this case, is that the stage deorbited relatively in a quick manner, removing a potential source of dangerous, debris-creating collisions that could have impacted the safe use of the orbital environment. 

As the number of rockets sent to space is increasing, the event reinforces the need for better international norms regarding high-risk uncontrolled re-entries.